149381/Small Is Beautiful
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BUS AND COACH CONVERSIONS Small is BEAUTIFUL Thinking outside the box is helping converters and coachbuilders to change the game in the world of compact buses. Steve Banner investigates uts in funding from local authorities to support essential but only marginally profi table rural bus services Cmay be prompting operators to switch to smaller buses. Even without a subsidy, running compact 22-passenger vehicles that burn less diesel (and emit less CO2) than display equipment, expensive, 12-metre models running half fl oor mid a ticket machine platform, empty can make sound sense. section capable bell pushes and a wheelchair ramp. Nor do these have to be confi ned of accommodating two people in Mellor is not alone. Elsewhere, to country lanes. Such buses can be a wheelchairs. That meant lowering the Stagecoach included 30 Mercedes- practical choice in cathedral cities with Sprinter’s prop shaft to pass beneath. Benz Sprinter City 45 minibuses as part narrow roads thronged with tourists. However, harnessing a stainless steel of a £97 million order for almost 500 Likewise housing estates littered with frame and GRP mouldings, the body buses and coaches (almost all ADLs and carelessly parked cars. width is 2,300mm, which is roomier than Volvos) announced last April. As we go The small bus sector is one that a Sprinter van body shell conversion. As to press, the operator has not disclosed Rochdale’s Mellor Coachcraft is already a result, it can off er a 2+2 rather than 2+1 where they will be deployed. tapping into, and with particular success seating layout while remaining slim. in Scotland. The fi rm is doing so with the “We wanted to avoid creating a NO PRISONERS recently launched, coach-built Mercedes- carbon copy of existing van-derived Some operators may have reservations Benz Sprinter 516-based, 22-passenger, Sprinter minibuses,” comments Mellor about using light commercial platforms 5.5-tonne Mellor Strata. Customers general manager John Randerson. on fare-stage work, given the intensity of include high-profi le operator McGill’s, of Power is delivered by a 163bhp such operations. However, Sprinter has Greenock, which ordered two before the 2.1-litre diesel driving through a seven- a justifi ed reputation for durability, easily fi rst was even built. Its third has gone to speed automatic, and Strata should tolerating a hammering – as witnessed in Prentice Coaches, of Haddington, East return up to 22mpg, says Mellor. home delivery fl eets, where drivers tend Lothian, to deliver a new service. Overall length is just shy of 7.8 metres, to take very few prisoners. Engineered with the approval of with a turning circle of 15.6 metres, and But it’s not just about Sprinter. Mellor Mercedes, Strata comes with a low- Strata comes complete with destination Coachcraft was recently awarded 24 www.transportengineer.org.uk January 2017 BUS AND COACH CONVERSIONS “Opt for a ramp and rear air-suspension, and it will cost you around £2,750” Steve Elwell Busmaster coachbuilder status by Iveco Bus, along with seven others in the UK and the Republic of Ireland, including Euromotive and Nu-Track. The accolade means each passed an audit addressing everything from we’ve been building on M1/M2-compliant sub-frames – all of manufacturing processes the Ducato,” says Elwell. “Fiat which are subject to light-weighting. and accuracy of engineering Professional managed to meet Euro 6 Resorting to composite materials may documentation, to aftersales support and without having to use AdBlue,” he says. be the best way of achieving substantial parts availability. Advanced has equipped some of its weight saving. But the result would Iveco showed that it recognised the wheelchair-accessible minibuses with be vehicle price rises. But aluminium potential of small fare-stage buses last a two-piece fold-out ramp, rather than – which although far less exotic, still year when it rolled out its Euro 6 Daily a wheelchair lift, with the aim of cutting off ers signifi cant opportunities for minibus and mini coach. With passenger weight. “A cassette-type lift can weigh up lightweighting – is widely used among capacities from 16 to 22 seats, the Daily to 220kg,” comments Elwell. By contrast, coachbuilders for fi ghting the fl ab. Line can be fi tted with destination display a lightweight aluminium ramp with a One using it extensively is Antrim, boards, pre-installation equipment slip-resistant surface and 50mm side rails Northern Ireland-based Nu-Track, which for ticket machines and request stop from, for example, Portaramp weighs boasts a fast-growing range that includes buttons. It also forms part of a range 19—28kg, depending on length. wheelchair-accessible minibuses. that encompasses the well-specifi ed Carrying up to 16 passengers or four 19-seater TourysPlus. LIFTS OR RAMPS people in wheelchairs, its City Dash, for And there are green options: an Such an approach reduces the vehicle’s example, features a body constructed electric Daily minibus, featuring 16 or price, too. “A cassette wheelchair lift using alloy panels hung on an aluminium 19 seats and batteries recharged in can cost £3,500 and then there is the frame and, in turn, sitting on an AL-KO two hours via a fast-charging terminal; ongoing bill for maintaining it,” Elwell chassis. It also uses the Fiat Ducato or and another powered by CNG/CBG observes. “Opt for a ramp and rear air- Peugeot Boxer cab and front-wheel-drive (compressed natural/bio gas). suspension instead, and it will cost you running gear. Boxer requires AdBlue to What about capacity? Keeping around £2,750.” meet Euro 6. unladen weight down is particularly Ramps have a drawback though: Nu-Track’s more recently launched important with small buses in order to they cannot be deployed if someone 30-seater Stellar – based on the Iveco maximise passenger carrying capacity parks too close behind. Clearly, weight Daily 72C17 7.2-tonne chassis – also while minimising fuel consumption. savings have to be balanced against uses alloy construction. As does the However, the constant rise in vehicle practicality and durability. Much the 33-seater Nu-Vibe, which has a chassis weights presents a challenge, says same goes for seats: weighing 23kg constructed at the Wrightbus EN-Drive Advanced KFS sales and marketing each, including headrests, the school plant in Antrim, with an aluminium body director Steve Elwell. minibus seats built by Advanced KFS are and fuel tank, plus a Cummins ISB 4.5- He points, for example, to Euro 6, strong, based on tough, moulded ABS litre 150bhp engine married to an Allison which typically adds 30—40kg to the light backs. Fit something less robust and it 2100 automatic. platforms minibus converters generally could rapidly suff er, says Elwell. And it’s a Thinking outside the box is clearly employ, thanks to SCR (selective catalytic similar story with everything from window paying dividends, and we’re not looking reduction) after-treatment. “That’s why assemblies to its in-house engineered at lightweight duty cycles. January 2017 www.transportengineer.org.uk 25.